The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...

presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the

Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature The is an organisation, established in 1938, to promote Japanese literature. It organises five literary prizes: *Akutagawa Prize *Kikuchi Kan Prize *Matsumoto Prize *Naoki Prize *Ohya Prize External links

* Japanese literature Organiza ...

, the award recognizes "the best work of popular

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

in any format by a new, rising, or (reasonably young) established author." The winner receives a watch and one million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

. Kikuchi founded the Naoki Prize with the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

, which targets a new or rising author of literary fiction. The two prizes are viewed as "two sides of the same coin" and inseparable from one another. Because of the prestige associated with the Naoki Prize and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it, along with the

, is one of Japan's most sought after literary awards of recognition.

Winners

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well a ...

maintains the official archive of past Naoki Prize winners.

1st–100th

101st to present

Winners available in English translation

* 1961 (45th) - Tsutomu Mizukami, ''The Temple of the Wild Geese'' (In ''The Temple of the Wild Geese and Bamboo Dolls of Echizen'', trans. Dennis C. Washburn,

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

, 2008) * 1967 (57th) - Akiyuki Nosaka, ''American Hijiki'' (In ''The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories'', trans. Jay Rubin,

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 2017) / ''A Grave of Fireflies'' (In ''Japan Quarterly'', vol. 25, no. 4, trans. James R. Abrams, 1978) *1973 (69th) - Hideo Osabe, ''Tsugaru Jonkarabushi'' and ''Tsugaru Yosarebushi'' (In ''Voices from the Snow'', trans. James N. Westerhoven, Hirosaki University Press, 2009) * 1979 (81st) - Takashi Atōda, "Napoleon Crazy", "The Visitor", and "The Transparent Fish" (In ''Napoleon Crazy and other stories'', trans. Stanleigh H. Jones,

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

International, 1986) / "Of Golf and Its Beginnings" and "A Treatise on Count St. German" (In ''The Square Persimmon and other stories'', trans. Millicent M. Horton,

Tuttle Publishing Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.

, 1991) * 1986 (96th) - Go Osaka, ''The Red Star of Cadiz'' (trans. Usha Jayaraman, Kurodahan Press, 2008) * 1993 (109th) - Aiko Kitahara, ''The Budding Tree'' (trans. Ian MacDonald,

, 2008) * 1996 (115th) - Asa Nonami, ''The Hunter'' (trans.

Juliet Winters Carpenter Juliet Winters Carpenter (born 1948) is an American translator of modern Japanese literature. Born in the American Midwest, she studied Japanese literature at the University of Michigan and the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies ...

International, 2006) * 1997 (117th) - Jirō Asada, ''The Stationmaster'' (trans. Terry Gallagher,

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

, 2009) * 1998 (119th) - Chōkitsu Kurumatani, ''The Paradise Bird Tattoo'' (trans. Kenneth J. Bryson,

Counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

, 2010) * 2000 (123rd) ** Yoichi Funado, ''May in the Valley of the Rainbow'' (trans. Eve Alison Nyren, Vertical, 2006) **

Kazuki Kaneshiro is a Zainichi Korean novelist who was born in Kawaguchi, Saitama. Later in his life he acquired Japanese citizenship. Due to early influence from his Marxist-Leninist father, he studied at the Chongryon-affiliated elementary school and middle sch ...

, '' Go'' (trans. Takami Nieda, AmazonCrossing, 2018) * 2005 (134th) -

Keigo Higashino is a Japanese author chiefly known for his mystery novels. He served as the 13th President of Mystery Writers of Japan from 2009 to 2013. Higashino has won major Japanese awards for his books, almost twenty of which have been turned into films ...

, '' The Devotion of Suspect X'' (trans. Alexander O. Smith, Minotaur Books, 2011) * 2010 (143rd) - Kyoko Nakajima, ''The Little House'' (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori, Darf Publishing, 2019) * 2016 (156th) - Riku Onda, ''Honeybees and Distant Thunder'' (trans.

Philip Gabriel James Philip Gabriel (born 1953) is an American translator and Japanologist. He is a full professor and former department chair of the University of Arizona's Department of East Asian Studies and is one of the major translators into English of the ...

, Pegasus Books, 2023) * 2018 (159th) - Rio Shimamoto, ''First Love'' (trans. Louise Heal Kawai, Honford Star, 2024) * 2020 (163rd) - Hase Seishū, ''The Boy and the Dog'' (trans. Alison Watts,

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

, 2022) * 2021 (166th) - Honobu Yonezawa, ''The Samurai and the Prisoner'' (trans. Giuseppe di Martino,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

, 2023)

Current members of the selection committee

(As of 2024) * Jirō Asada * Kakuta Mitsuyo * Natsuhiko Kyogoku * Natsuo Kirino * Kaoru Takamura ( ja) * Mariko Hayashi ( ja) *

Shion Miura is a Japanese writer. She has won the Naoki Prize, the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, and the Japan Booksellers' Award. Her work has been adapted for film and television, and her books have been translated into Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnam ...

* Miyuki Miyabe

References

External links

J'Lit , Awards : Naoki Prize , Books from Japan
{{Authority control Japanese literary awards Awards established in 1935 Literary awards honouring young writers Fiction awards 1935 establishments in Japan